James Bay Minerals is adding gold (and silver) to its portfolio. Pic: Getty Images
Mining
Special Report: James Bay Minerals is diversifying its portfolio with the execution of a definitive term sheet for the transformational acquisition of the advanced Independence gold project in Battle Mountain, Nevada.
Sitting within a top global mining jurisdiction, Independence features a non-JORC NI43-101 resource of 1.18Moz gold and 7.6Moz silver, including a high-grade component of 769,200oz gold at a grade of 6.53g/t that is open in all directions.
Evidence of the upside James Bay Minerals (ASX:JBY) can pursue is clear from a recent near-surface hole outside the existing resource, which returned a tidy, high-grade assay of 24m grading 9.1g/t gold and 25.2g/t silver.
Adding further interest, drill intersections such as 44.2m at 4.19g/t gold and 10.53g/t silver, including 6.1m at 26.47g/t gold and 27g/t silver, and 47.2m at 1.33g/t gold and 25.56g/t silver highlight the quality of the near-surface resource.
“We are thrilled to announce the announce the acquisition and earn-in of the Independence gold project,” executive director Andrew Dornan said.
“This transformational asset enhances our portfolio with a high-quality gold resource.
“Its advanced high-grade features, combined with significant growth opportunities in both near-surface and skarn mineral resources, present a huge opportunity for the company.”
The 627-acre Independence project in Lander County is adjacent to Nevada Gold Mine’s Phoenix project and 16km south of Battle Mountain, a fully-serviced mining town.
Additionally, the project holds 470 acres of private fee surface land in the Battle Mountain mining district where the company holds exclusive water rights.
Rocks of the Roberts Mountain Allochthon are the principal host for both the Phoenix deposit and the Skarn target at Independence, which is a high-grade system.
Near-surface mineralisation at the project is best characterised as a high-level epithermal system formed as a leakage halo above the gold skarn.
JBY will acquire an initial 51.54% interest in the project by issuing 16.25 million shares priced at 15c each worth a total of ~$2.44m to the vendor.
It can earn another 23.46%, bringing its stake up to 75%, by incurring at least US$1.5m in exploration expenditure and issuing the vendor with US$500,000 worth of shares.
The remaining 25% can be earned with another US$1.5m in exploration spend and paying US$500,000 in cash, as well as US$1m in either cash or JBY shares.
JBY will also pay the vendor US$500,000 in cash and a further US$1.5m in either cash or shares within 12 months of starting production.
Separately, the company has received binding commitments to raise $1.5m through the placement of 10 million shares priced at 15c each. This placement is subject to shareholder approval, which will be sought at the annual general meeting on November 29.
JBY plans to convert the NI43-101 resource to the JORC 2012 standard and grow existing resources by carrying out an initial 3500m drill program that will start later this quarter.
The company will also seek to upgrade the resource classification of the near surface inferred resource, update the previously completed Preliminary Economic Assessment to include the updated resource, and progress permitting for a starter heap leach project.
This article was developed in collaboration with James Bay Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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